North Battleford city council has officially passed a resolution to sign a Building Canada Fund agreement clearing the way for a massive primary sanitary sewer trunk main project estimated at $13,656,530.
It is a cost-share agreement, where the $13.6 million cost is divided one-third between the federal, provincial and city government. The city’s portion is to be funded by long-term debt. Should the overall cost run higher than $13.6 million, the city will take on that additional expense as well.
The cost estimate came from AECOM, who had been commissioned by the city to develop the pre-design for the project. AECOM also submitted the business case for the project in the city’s application to the federal government.
A concern raised at the meeting was that the cost may have gone up since the city made its initial funding request.
Councillor Greg Lightfoot pointed to a five per cent contingency factored in to the cost calculation which could increase the overall cost to $14.5 million and leave the city on the hook for that additional $907,470.
That contingency was added on the recommendation of AECOM, who noted costs had increased due to inflationary pressures by $212,470. Director of Utilities Stewart Schafer assured Lightfoot the contingency is “just in case - they’re going to have to come back and prove that they really need it,” he said.
Some details about the project were revealed at the meeting, though many are not finalized.
Schafer said the project will see the twinning of six kilometers of the trunk main that runs through the city.
The existing line is 27 inches and it will be twinned with a new 36-inch line. Both will work at the same time.
The line will run from the old sewage treatment plant up to the new wastewater treatment plant in the southeast. This will be a part-pumped/part-gravity line, but where the gravity portion begins is still to be determined. A new sewage lift station is to be put in.
Councillor Len Taylor asked what the public could expect to see and what disruptions they might face.
Schafer said initially the public would see “a bunch of consultants with rods wandering around the field taking a measurement,” and may see contractors drilling in the field just to ensure slope stability “because the final route for the line from Riverview has not been set yet.”
Once construction starts there could be roads impacted, he said. Schafer said most of the work will be through areas where the public does not drive, where the main line is currently running, such as behind some businesses in the industrial park.
A big question, said Schafer, is South Railway Avenue and whether or not the line will go through the roadway or just along the edge of the roadway along the CN property.
That is still to be determined with the consultants. Schafer said they will keep the public notified as to what is happening.
The project will take place over a period of two and a half years. This year will be devoted to the design and survey work, with the digging to commence next year.
The upgrades are seen as necessary in order to reduce basement flooding and prevent the possibility of free-flowing sewage coming to the surface during storm situations.
When asked by Councillor Lightfoot if this will give the city enough capacity for 20 years down the road, Schafer responded “yes.”
The resolution passed at council Monday called for the city to enter an agreement with “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Communities Canada.”
